home
Objects and Photographs

Artworks and Posters

Polsons Iron Work Yard, Ship War Hydra on Stocks
Polsons Iron Work Yard, Ship War Hydra on Stocks

This watercolour by Robert Ford Gagen depicts the cargo ship War Hydra under construction at the Polson Iron Works shipyard in Toronto.

As part of the need to replace ships lost to German U-Boat attacks, Canada commenced an intensive shipbuilding program in 1917. The program drew upon resources on both coasts, as well as on the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. Polson Iron Works built eight ships, several of which were not completed before the war ended.

Polsons Iron Work Yard, Ship War Hydra on Stocks
Painting by Robert Ford Gagen
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19710261-0152



Naval Service of Canada Recruiting Poster
Naval Service of Canada Recruitment Poster
Olympic with Returned Soldiers
The Little Drifter and the Big Freighter
Looking Astern on a Sub-Chaser
Sketch of a Seaplane Taking Off
The Return of U-9
"We risk our lives to bring you food. It's up to you not to waste it."
Qu'importe l'existence des Neutres! L'Allemagne est au dessus de tout! (Neutrality is irrelevant! Germany sees herself above all else!)
HMCS Grilse on Convoy Duty
Canada's Grand Armada, 1914
Canada's Answer
Convoy in Bedford Basin
The Night Patrol - Canadian Motor Torpedo Boats Entering Dover Harbour
Victory Bonds Will Help Stop This
Polsons Iron Work Yard, Ship War Hydra on Stocks
Starting the Freighter
Hull of a Minesweeper under Construction
A New Gun for the Destroyer
Outfitting a Minesweeper at Night
Diver, First Class
Seamen on Jetty Being Instructed on Bends and Hitches
Signal Flag Hoist
Barrington Street Patrol, Halifax